1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to data processing systems in which a communication bus is used to transfer write transactions between a bus master and a bus slave and also to pass write responses from the bus slave back to the bus master.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known within the field of communication buses for data processing systems, such as integrated circuit system-on-chip designs, to provide communication buses via which write transactions can be made from a bus master to a bus slave. In some circumstances it is desirable that a write response be passed back to the bus master to indicate whether the write transaction was successfully completed by the bus slave. In the known Virtual Component Interface (“VCI”) bus system there are provided a separate write data channel and read data channel using which write transactions and read transactions are respectively performed. The read data channel is also used to pass write response signals corresponding to the outcome of a write transaction on the write data channel back to the originating bus master.
It is also known within the field of data processing in general to provide multiple logical channels, such as by time division multiplexing or code division multiplexing, upon a single communication channel to enable different respective signals to be transferred. This type of arrangement is generally considered desirable since the number of communication channels, such as telecommunication frequencies, is limited and accordingly it is advantageous to multiplex together many communication channels.